As we continue into 2025, UK property news continues to claim the headlines across much of the press. Let’s take a brief look behind some of those stories to examine the state of the housing market as the year begins and offer clues about the rest of the year ahead.
UK housing market “starts new year with a bang”
The year has started with a surge in the number of homes appearing on the market, reported the Guardian newspaper recently. There were some 11% more homes advertised for sale during this January than in the same month last year.
Heralding what is expected to be an especially active market, the newspaper cited online listings website Rightmove’s findings that average prices have also registered a notable leap forward. A typical home was listed for sale at £366,189 during January – a 1.7% increase of £5,992 and the biggest spurt in prices to start any new year since 2020.
Increased confidence on the part of potential buyers may help to explain this renewed buoyancy in the market. As interest rates have already fallen to some degree, buyers appear to be taking comfort from the prospect of further cuts in interest rates combined with a possible fall in the rate of inflation to 2.5%.
Despite these opening strengths of the market, average house prices still lag up to £9,000 lower than the all-time records achieved in May of last year.
15m homes gained £7,600 in value over 2024
The New Year’s overview of the housing market by online listings website Zoopla on the 15th of January revealed that half of all UK homes – that’s around 15 million dwellings – increased in value by £7,600 or more during the course of last year.
Not all properties fared so well, of course. Around one-third of homes – largely in the southeast of England – saw a slight drop in value because the higher cost of borrowing had reduced purchasing power.
The overall impact on prices across all 30 million homes was calculated as an average increase of £2,400.
The most sluggish of increases – with just 36% registering a rise in prices – were in homes in the south of England; 62% of those in the north of the country and Scotland saw increases; while 70% of those in the northeast gained in value. The highest gains – of an average £4,400 – were seen in the northwest.
The latest on the Renters’ Rights Bill as it moves to the House of Lords
On the 14th of January, the landlords’ lobby group Propertymark criticised a number of amendments to the Renters’ Rights Bill as it passes up from the House of Commons to the Lords for further scrutiny. In particular, it argued against the proposals to:
- limit to one month the amount of rent landlords may charge tenants in advance;
- restrict the ability of landlords to repossess student-let property;
- fees raised from landlords being used to fund the proposed new private rented sector Ombudsman; and
- the creation of a register of landlords and the maintenance of a landlord’s database.
Propertymark is concerned that while the amendments might appear to favour tenants, in the longer run the disincentives for landlords could result in fewer and more expensive properties in the private rented sector.
Petition demands EPC equality for private rental properties
A story in Landlord Today last month described a petition to the House of Commons by a private sector landlord calling for the strict energy efficiency requirements for rental homes to be applied to all types of housing – whatever the tenure.
The petitioner is making his bid following confirmation from Ed Miliband the Energy Secretary that all homes in the private rented sector will need to have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of C – or better – by the year 2030.
